Kinect for Windows SDK Beta is out!

There was a lot of rumoring going on and some hot previews of what Microsoft Kinect developers are producing with the new Kinect SDK for Windows.

Now Microsoft released the (noncommercial!) Kinect SDK for Windows Beta version.

It runs under Windows 7 and Microsoft has not commented on the compatibility for the upcoming Windows 8.

Microsoft stated that in early 2012, the Kinect SDK can be used by any company to create commercial applications for Windows. There are already 200 companies (Razorfish, Toyota..) involved as part of a pilot program.

The Kinect for Windows SDK beta includes drivers, rich APIs for raw sensor streams and human motion tracking, installation documents, and resource materials. It provides Kinect capabilities to developers who build applications with C++, C#, or Visual Basic by using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.

This SDK includes the following features:

• Raw sensor streams
  Access to raw data streams from the depth sensor, color camera sensor, and four-element microphone array enables developers to build upon the low-level streams that are generated by the Kinect sensor.
• Skeletal tracking
  The capability to track the skeleton image of one or two people moving within the Kinect field of view make it easy to create gesture-driven applications.
• Advanced audio capabilities
  Audio processing capabilities include sophisticated acoustic noise suppression and echo cancellation, beam formation to identify the current sound source, and integration with the Windows speech recognition API.
• Sample code and documentation
  The SDK includes more than 100 pages of technical documentation. In addition to built-in help files, the documentation includes detailed walkthroughs for most samples provided with the SDK.
• Easy installation
  The SDK installs quickly, requires no complex configuration, and the complete installer size is less than 100 MB. Developers can get up and running in just a few minutes with a standard standalone Kinect sensor unit (widely available at retail outlets).

This SDK is designed for non-commercial purposes only; a commercial version is expected to be available at a later date.

Check out the feature list and the projects gallery

The audience at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles was treated to a preview of "Kinect Star Wars."

Microsoft Technical Evangelist Clint Rutkas demonstrates a Kinect drivable lounge chair.

Student Alex Wiggins gestures to Kinect, which in turn lifts a remote-control toy helicopter while teammates Ruma Paul (left) and Fabio Matsui (right) look on. The trio was using the new Kinect for Windows SDK beta during Code Camp on Microsoft’s Redmond Campus. June 16, 2011.

Microsoft Research's Jonathan Fay demonstrates exploring WorldWide Telescope with a wave of the hand after it was enabled using the Kinect for Windows SDK beta. April 13, 2011

A patient at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in the U.K. uses Kinect as part of rehabilitation exercises. Patients at the hospital's Neurological Rehab Unit are matched to specific Kinect titles depending on the severity of their impairment. The games have helped improve patients’ balance, coordination and physical movement.